Can body blank registration apparatus



Oct. 30, 1962 E. I Axo CAN BODY BLANK REGISTRATION APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. l2, 1960 INVENTOR.

E D LAXO ATTORNEY fm/f; Sig@ Oct. 30, 1962 E. I Axo 3,060,880

CAN BODY BLANK REGISTRATION APPARATUS Filed Feb. 12, 1960 s sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ED LAXO ATTORNEY Oct. 30, 1962 E. I Axo CAN BODY BLANK REGISTRATION APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. l2, 1960 INVENTOR.

E D LAXO ATTORNEY United States Patent Office satana@ Patented Get. 30, 1962 3 060,880 CAN BDY BLANK REGIS'IRA'I'IUN APPARATUS Ed Laxo, 27690 Urlando Ave., Hayward, Calif. Filed Feb. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 8,388 6 Claims. (Cl. 113-115) This invention relates to a can body blank registration apparatus.

lIn the manufacture of metal cans, flat metal blanks are subjected to certain operations before they are formed into tubular can bodies. These operations comprise blanking, notching and slitting, and folding. The blanking operation consists of cutting out segments of metal from a body blank to form a tongue for key opening cans. (In many cases, of course, the blanking operation is omitted.) The notching and slitting operation consists of notching and slitting the corners of the blank to compensate for extra metal thickness at the junction of the can body side seam and the end seam when a cover or covers are applied to the bodies. The folding operation consists of folding two opposite edges of the blank to form hooks, which are interlocked to form the side seam.

These operations (that is, the blanking, the notching and slitting, and the folding operations) are carried out at high speed of the order of 40G to 500 blanks per minute. Each blank must be advanced by increments from a starting position to the blanking station (if there is such a station), then to the notching and slitting station, then to the folding station and then to an exit point where the can body blank is picked up and moved to another portion of the can body making machine. The blanks must be fed at high speed to each station. They must be located accurately at each station and clamped securely while the respective operation is taking place. All of these operations and the incremental feed must be carried out at high speed with a high degree of precision and in properly timed relation to subsequent operations, such as formation of side seams.

It is also desirable that the machine be capable of accurate adjustment and timing without serious difficulty.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved feed and registration apparatus capable of incremental feed of can body blanks or the like at high speed and with a high degree of precision.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a can body blank feed and registration apparatus of the character and for the purpose described which is easily adjustable and which is capable of dependable, accurate functioning at high speeds.

The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description and the appended claims.

One form of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of one-half of the machine (the left-hand side looking downstream), such being shown in elevation. The View is a longitudinal section taken along the line 1 1 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2 is a transverse section taken through the machine along the staggered line 2 2 of FIGURE 1, showing the machine looking upstream.

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, vertical, longitudinal section taken through one of the feed bars showing in detail one of the feed dog assemblies which serve to advance the can body blanks through the machine.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view, partly broken away, taken along the line 4 4 of FIGURE 2, showing one of the friction shoes which are employed to clamp the can body blanks at the several stations while the respective operations are being performed.

FIGURE 5 is a section taken along the line 6 6 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional View taken along the line 5 5 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, the machine is generally designated by the reference numeral 9. It comprises a blanking station 10, a notching and slitting station 11 and a folding station 12. The blanking, the notching and slitting and the folding stations may be of any desired type. Preferably the notching and slitting station and the folding station are those described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 5383, filed January 29, 1960, entitled Can Body Blank Forming Machine. However, other forms of notching and slitting and of folding equipment may be used, such not being an essential part of the present invention.

The apparatus shown also comprises a frame 13. At the stations 10, 11 and 12 and beyond them are shown can body blanks 14. The frame 13 is formed on each side of the machine (see FIGURE 2) with an inwardly projecting ledge 15, each of which supports a feed bar 16 which is free to slide on its ledge and which is formed with a groove 17 to receive the tongues 18 of clamping brackets 19. The clamping brackets 19 are bolted to the frame as shown in FIGURE 1 and each of them has a flange 20 bolted to a cross bar 25. A wear plate 26 is provided which extends the length of the machine.

The main drive shaft of the machine is shown at 30 journaled in a bearing 31 and to it is fixed a crank disc 32. The crank disc 32 is connected to a linkage means which includes a link 33 which is forked at both ends at 34 and 3S and is connected at its lower end through the medium of a pin 36 to crank disc 32 and at its upper end through the medium of a pin 37 to one end of a lever 38. The other end of the lever 38 is clamped to a rocker shaft 39. A second lever 40 is also clamped at its lower end to the rocker shaft 39 and at its upper end it is rotatably connected at 45 to one end of a connecting rod 46, the other end of which is rotatably connected at 47 to a feed bar slide or connector member 48. The feed bar slide 48 is bolted at 49 to the left-hand end (as viewed in FIGURE 1) of the left-hand feed bar 16.

As will be evident from an inspection of FIGURE 2, the lever 40 and certain other parts associated with it are duplicated on the right-hand side of the machine 16. At this point it should be explained that right and left are reversed in FIGURE 2 because that figure is a view looking upstream.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 as well as to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that a number of feed dogs 55 are provided. As shown in FIGURE 3, each feed dog 55 forms part of a feed dog assembly 56. One of the feed bars is shown at 16 and it will be seen that the feed bar is recessed to receive the feed dog assembly 56. At opposite ends of the recess retainer tongues 57 and 53 are provided, also a shoulder is formed at 59 against which a tongue 60 on an insert 61 bears. The insert 61 is formed with a socket 62 to receive one end of-a spring 63 which is compressed between feed bar 16 and a piston 64 whose rod 65 is seated in a socket 66 formed in the cylindrical end 67 of the feed dog 55. The feed dog 55 has a top sloping portion 68 and an abutment end or vertical surface at 69 which projects above the feed bar 16 and is intended to bear against the trailing edge of a can body blank such as that shown at 14 in FIGURE 3. The direction of travel of can body blanks is from right to left as viewed in FIGURE 3. It will also be noted that the insert 61 clears the abutting surface of the feed bar 16, at 70. The reason for this is that when a body blank is stopped at a station by a stop member as described hereinafter, the feed dog 55 will yield momentarily against 3 the spring 63, thereby avoiding damage to the body blanks.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 2, 4 and 5, on each side of the machine and at each of the three stations 10, 11 and 12, there is a friction shoe 75 whose function is to clamp can body blanks at each station during the dwell in the movement of the blanks and during the Vconcurrent operation of the several stations to perform their respective functions and also to. prevent the can body blanks from bouncing.

As is-best shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, each friction shoe 75 may be chamfered at 76 and it has a vertical extension 77 having a tongue 78 at its upper end. The extension 77 is slideable inthe frame member 13a and it will be apparent that the shoe 75 has a limited freedom of vertical movement. A pair of pins 79, also slideable in the frame member 13a, bear against the top of the tongue 78. Springs 80 bear against the heads of the pin 79. The compression of the springs 80 is adjusted by the set screws 32. (The part 13a may be made in two parts to permit insertion of extension 77.)

The feed dogs 55 function to feed can body blanks 14 forwardly by increments and the friction shoes 75 serve to clamp the can body blanks in place while the instrumentalities at stations 10, 11 and 12 perform their functions and to prevent bouncing of the body blanks, all as more fully described hereinafter. It is also necessary to Vprovide stop means to stop the forward movement of can body blanks at precisely the right point so that they will register properly with the'instrumentalities at the several stations 10, 11 and 12. rIhis stop means will now be described with reference to FIGURES 1, 2 and 6.

A cam 9 0 is shown which is clamped to the lever 40 as shown in FIGURE 5. The lever 40 is formed with a groove 91. A gib 92 seated in this groove and bolted at 93 to the lever 40, clamps the dovetail portion 94 of the cam 90 to the lever 40. Other mating tongue and groove portions of the lever 40 and cam 90 Vare shown. It will be apparent that the cam 90 can be rotated relatively to the lever 40 by loosening cap screws 93 and moving the cam relatively to the lever.v When suitable adjustment has been made the cap screws 93 will be tightened.

The cam 90 is formed with a cam groove 96 which has a low dwell 97, a rise 98 and a high dwell 9.9. Af cam follower roller 100 rolls in the cam groove 96 and is rotatably mounted in the end of a lever 101,' the other end of which isclamped to a rotatable shaft 105. A link 106 Y clamped to the shaft 105 is rotatably connected at 107 to a carriage 108. The other end of the carriage 108 is carried by a similar link 106a which is Vrotatably mounted on a shaft 109 carried by a bracket 110 bolted to the frame. 'Ihe other end of the link 106a is rotatably connected at 111y to the carriage 108. A parallelogram type of support for the carriage 108 is provided such that the carriage is horizontal at all times. It will be understood that the cam 90 and associated elements are duplicated on the other side of the machine, as will appear from an inspection of FIGURE 2. Y Y

Brackets 112 are bolted at 113 to the carriage 108. Each bracket 112 is slotted atr114so that it can be adjusted. iTo the upper end of each bracket 112 is bolted a stop member 115. Each stop member 115 has a machined, finished vertical face at 116 which faces upstream. In operation the Vmachine functions as follows: Referring to FIGURE l, an assembly generally indicated by the reference numeral 120 (and which does not form a part of the invention herein, therefore isVY not described in detail) is provided for the purpose of receiving can is attached an extractor bar (not shown) which extracts formed can bodies from the side seamer (not shown).

In FIGURE 1 three can body blanks 14 are shown at the three stations 10, 11 and 12. Taking the machine at this stage of operation and just after the blanking, the notching and slitting and the folding operations have been completed, the rocker shaft 39y will be rotated to the left or counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1. It will be apparent that the fcam rollers 100 will roll down the rise portions 9S of the cam grooves 96, and that the carriages 108 will, therefore, move downwardly. Accordingly the stop members 11S will berretracted, thereby clearing the way for the next increment of movement of the can body blanks 14. Y

The above described movement of the rocker shaft 39 will, through the medium of the levers 40, the connecting rods 46 and the feed bar slides 4S, cause the feed bars 16 to move from right to left,V that is to say, the feed bars will undergo retractive movement.

During this retractive movement of the feed bars 16 the friction shoes 75 will remain pressed against the can body blanks and will, therefore, hold them stationary and the pivoted, spring pressed feed dogs 55 (see FIG- URE 3) will pivot down and pass underneath the stationary, frictionally held can body blanks. Then the rocker shaft 39 will rock back to the right. Prior to this, however, a new can body blank will'have been supplied to the assembly 120. When the rocker shaft 39 rocks back to the right and causes forward movement of the feed bars 16, the iirst pair of feed dogs 55V will pick up the new blank and will advance it to the blanking station 10, the next pair of feed dogs will advance the blank at station 10 to station 11, etc. The last can body blank will be transferred to the side seamer. Near the end of the forward stroke of the feed bars 16 the cam follower rollers 100 will roll up the rises 98 onto the high dwell 99. The movement of the cam follower rollers 100 up the rises 98 will elevate the carriage 108 and the stops 115 and the movement of the cam follower rollers 100 along the short high dwells 99 will hold the stops 115 in elevated position Vto stop and register the can body blanks for proper functioning of the stations 10, 11 and 12. As noted above the feed dogs can yield rearwardly against the force of the springs 63 (see FIGURE 3) thereby preventing damage to can body blanks. As also noted the drag shoes 75 can yield upwardly to prevent jamming. By reason of these and other features the machine is enabled to operate at high speed, with great accuracy and with minimum damage to can body blanks.

It will, therefore, be apparent that a machine has been provided which is effective to feed can body blanks or the Y like by increments to one or more stations where forming body blanks in succession and in timed relation to progi operations are performed on the blank, such feed being at high speed and with precision, and that timing of the machine is readily accomplished.

claim:

1. A can body blank feed and registration machine of the character described comprising a frame,'at least one feed bar reciprocable in said frame, at least one spring biased feed dog carried by said bar to effect forward movement of can body blanks and to Vslide underneath can body blanks on return movement of the bar; a can body stop and registration member and parallelo'gram means mounting the same for oscillatory movement between an elevated position wherein said stop member'obstmcts the forward travel of can body blanks and a lowered position which permits such forwardV travel; andoperating means for operating said Vfeed bar and stop member in timed relation, said operating meansV comprising a rocker shaft, means for oscillating said shaft about its longitudinal axis, a mechanical linkage connecting said rocker shaft and freed bar to reciprocate the feed Vbar and a mechanical linkage connecting said rocker shaft and parallelogram means to oscillate the parallelogram means.

2..A can body blank feed and registration machine of the character described comprising a frame, at least one feed bar reciprocable in said frame, at least one spring biased feed dog carried by said bar to effect forward movement of can body blanks and to slide underneath can body blanks on return movement of the bar; a can body stop and registration member and parallelogram means mounting the same for oscillatory movement between an elevated position wherein said stop member obstructs the forward travel of can body blanks and a lowered position which permits such forward travel; and operating means for operating said feed bar and stop member in timed relation, said operating means comprising a rocker shaft, means for oscillating said shaft about its longitudinal axis, a lever clamped to said rocker shaft to oscillate therewith, a cam carried by said lever, a connecting rod connecting said lever to said feed bar to reciprocate the feed bar, and a cam follower connected to said parallelogram means and engaging said cam for oscillating said stop member.

3. Feed and registration apparatus of the character described comprising a frame including a horizontal support for sheet metal blanks or the like, reciprocable feed means for feeding such blanks along said support by increments, and stop and registration means for stopping each such blank after an increment of movement and for registering each metal blank for a forming operation, said stop and registration means comprising a stop member having a stop surface facing upstream in relation to the movement of metal blanks and a parallelogram support for said stop means to confine the stop member to oscillatory movement in a vertical plane; and means for operating said reciprocable feed means and said oscillable stop and registration means in timed relation, said means comprising a rocking lever carrying a cam, means for imparting a rocking motion to said lever, a connecting rod connecting said rocking lever to said feed means and a cam follower engaging said cam and connected to said stop and registration means.

4. A feed and registration machine of the character described comprising a frame, at least one feed bar mounted on said frame for reciprocating in a horizontal plane, at least one work station alongside said feed bar for performing a metal forming operation on flat metal blanks supported on said feed bar, at least one feed dog assembly supported by said feed bar including a feed dog having a contact surface facing downstream in relation to movement of metal blanks and resilient means urging said contact surface above the plane of the feed bar, said dog having a rearwardly sloping upper surface adapting the dog to pivot down and beneath metal blanks during the return stroke of the feed bar, means for reciprocating said feed bar, at least one clamping shoe mounted on said frame to contact the upper surface of a metal blank at said work station, spring means urging said shoe into clamping contact lwith a metal blank at said station but yielding to permit forward movement of metal blanks by the feed bar, and registration means comprising at least one stop member having a stop surface facing upstream in relation to the movement of metal blanks, parallelogram means supporting said stop member for oscillating said stop surface alternately into and below the path of travel of said metal blanks in timed relation to the reciprocating motion of the feed bar to interpose said contact surface in said path of travel of metal blanks at the end of each forward stroke of the feed bar, said means for reciprocating said feed bar and oscillating said parallelogram means comprising a rocker shaft, a rocker lever mounted on said rocker shaft, a cam mounted on said rocker lever, a connecting rod connecting said rocker arm and said feed bar, and a cam follower pivotably mounted to said frame having one end in engagement with said cam and the other end pivotably connected to said parallelogram means.

5. A can body blank feed and registration apparatus of the character described comprising a frame, a reciprocable feed bar supported by the frame for reciprocating movement in a horizintal plane, said feed bar carrying a plurality of feed dog assemblies each comprising a feed dog having a contact surface facing in the direction of the forward stroke of the feed bar and having a rearwardly slanting upper surface and being pivoted on said feed bar for pivoting between a position in the plane of and a position above the plane of said feed bar, at least one work station alongside said feed bar, a carrier member mounted on the frame by parallel links to oscillate in a vertical plane with the carrier horizontal at all times, at least one stop member having a stop surface, said stop member being mounted on said carrier with its stop surface facing upstream and so located that, as the carrier oscillates said stop surface will alternately rise above and recede below the plane of the feed bar and means for reciprocating said feed bar and oscillating said carrier in timed relation to one another, said means comprising a rocker shaft, a lever mounted on and oscillated by said shaft, a linkage between said lever and feed bar whereby said feed bar is reciprocated by said rocker shaft, a cam fixed to and oscillated with said lever and cam follower means operated by said cam and connected to said carrier to oscillate the latter.

6. A can body blank feed and registration machine comprising a frame; a horizontally reciprocal feed bar slidably supported by said frame; at least one feed dog assembly mounted on said feed bar and having a resilient downstream facing edge for engagement with the can body blank; a vertically oscillable registration bar horizontally supported below said feed bar by a parallelogram linkage fastened to said frame; at least one stop member mounted on said registration bar and having an upstream facing edge for engagement with the can body blank; and means for reciprocating said feed bar and oscillating said registration bar in timed relation to one another, said means comprising a rocker shaft rotatably mounted in said frame, a rocking lever mounted on said shaft, a cam fixed to said rocking lever, a cam follower Xed to said registration bar and engaging said can to impact thereto oscillator motion, and a connecting rod for connecting said rocking lever and said feed bar to impart thereto reciprocating motion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,543,460 Thoyer lune 23, 1925 1,917,359 Cameron July 1l, 1933 2,305,191 Pearson et al. Dec. 15, 1942 

